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Hidden Karate

I have just finished reading a wounderfull and enlightening karate book called, Hidden Karate: the true bunkai for the Pinan / Heian katas and Naihanchi. The author is a gentleman called Gennosuke Higaki.

I have a select collection of karate books by past masters, this book however is one of the finest karate manuals i have ever read, it has a wealth of information and some really great bunkai.

In this great book Gennousuki Higaki is brutally honest, answers many questions regarding unusable katas, goes in depth about the great Master Itosu and the Pinan Katas. In one section he clearly states that Master Itosu taught the block and punch combinations to children, and taught his adult students at his home.

It should also be known that were different variations of the Pinan / Heian katas at the time of Itosu, why was this, because it was Master Itosu who taught those variations in the first place and thats why we have this today.

In this book it claims Itosu developed these five forms to educate instructors and if one trained 2 to 3 hours a day, over 3 to 4 years one would possibly be able to understand the hidden parts of the katas. It also explains the mystery behind the dangerous moves being removed from the Pinan / Heian katas, this as many of us know this is not the case. Those dangerous moves are indeed still there, however depending how you approach those katas, for example if you believe that these katas are for children or only beginner katas then sadly you will never understand these great katas or the spirit behind Master Itosu who created them.

I highly recommend this fine karate manual and deserves to be in any serious karate-ka's library or martial artist in general, it can be found on amazon or ebay etc.

But some things are making me cautious. Gennosuke Higaki is certainly not the real name of the author, it is the name of a character out of a Kurosawa movie (Judo Saga). So I am asking myself why he chooses to have his identity concealed.

Next thing I stumble across is the title of the book "hidden karate". He tries to fortify his bunkai with historical picture of Funakoshi, Motobu etc. which is a really good idea, but when there were pictures of that in the open for a long time, why is he calling it hidden?

To me, those "hidden moves" are simply more advanced, ones a beginner will not see. But they're not really hidden. So, I understand where that comes from, but I'm weary in general of anyone pretending to teach the "hidden moves" in a kata.

Not to say I won't give a look at this book, because from what you say, there are things that make a whole lot of sense in there too. :)

The books sounds interesting, but I am always a little wary of 'hidden' applications too, if the method of interpreting kata movement is sound..I don't really see how there is anything hidden. In fact, i'd argue that most 'hidden' stuff is the oral teaching you get on HOW to do all the stuff more effectiely, and the different layers that only come with practice, not any kind of a set of 'moves'.

Sound combative principles seem to produce similar results anyway, even across styles and different kata!